The Tennessee Titans are heading to London to face the Baltimore Ravens in a matchup that will take place at 8:30 A.M. CST.
To prepare for the long trip and the time change, the Ravens have already left. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans have decided to wait until Thursday to make the trip.
That is a strange decision because the Buffalo Bills just lost a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars that was brutal to watch. They looked off balance and out of rhythm all day long, and while the coaches and players aren't using it as an excuse, the fact that they left on Thursday while the Jaguars were already in London for a full week, is being mentioned a lot.
Mike Vrabel said that the reason for that was because that is what they did last time they went to London, and he felt like that worked. The weird thing is, despite how he remembers it, the Titans only managed 6 points in the first half of that game after a slow start.
Mike Keith went on 104.5 The Zone (3HL) on Monday to further explain some of the reasoning behind this move, and it was interesting...
Pasta and protein drinks behind the Tennessee Titans delay
The VOTT pointed out that one of the big reasons why the Titans didn't want to travel early in the week was that they were going to have to ship a lot of their stuff to London. Vrabel believes that they already have what they need in Nashville, so he is putting off the trip as long as possible.
Mike Keith went on to name some odd specifics about what the Titans would have to bring with them. That list included types of pasta and energy/protein drinks. Here is the full quote from the radio spot mentioned earlier:
"They had to ship a lot of the stuff on a boat back in August. So a lot of the Titans gear, and a lot of other things like an energy drink that guys drink- a protein drink let's say- that you can't buy in the U.K. well they shipped it over. Flavors of Gatorade are not available in the UK, so they shipped them over...If you want a certain style of pasta or peanut butter, things of that sort had to be shipped ahead of time."
It seems like those issues could have easily been solved by just sending more stuff earlier on in the process. Either way, Vrabel is prioritizing having a normal work week in Tennessee before things start to change on Thursday instead of trying to leave now and then adapting and adjusting to a different schedule in London.
That goes against what the Buffalo Bills just struggled with, so this is certainly Mike Vrabel thinking independently and not listening to conventional wisdom. We will see how it pays off in a critical game for the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, the outcome of which could result in lineup changes and hotter seats.